NATO has pledged some 15 million euros to Ukraine, with several of the bloc’s member states pledging separate bilateral support and military cooperation, involving medical supplies as well as lethal and nonlethal military equipment.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced a
"comprehensive and tailored package of measures,"
including the donation of 15 million euros “through
NATO” at a joint news conference with the Ukrainian
president on Thursday, the first day of the NATO summit in Wales.

He said that this would be in addition to other measures such as
advising Ukraine on defense reforms and further bilateral aid.

“This is about improvement of logistics, the improvement of
command and control, the improvement of communications, and cyber
defense,” Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said.

Poroshenko claimed that some of the NATO member states said
during bilateral consultations they are ready to supply Ukraine
with lethal and non-lethal arms, including “high precision
weapons,” as well as with medical equipment. No official
confirmation of the agreement on provision of such weapons has
been made by NATO or any of its states.

“The new parliamentary election will help us a lot to
accelerate the reform process,” Poroshenko said, adding that
the most significant reforms to be made would be to the economy,
and ensuring the rule of law and anti-corruption.

He said that he had some optimism for Friday’s peace talks in
Minsk, Belarus, after which a ceasefire is expected to commence.

Rasmussen expressed caution: “If recent statements from
President Putin represent a genuine effort to find a political
solution, I would welcome it,” Rasmussen told reporters. He
said that recent offers had been a “smokescreen” for
further destabilization on the ground.

NATO and Ukraine have also created four trust funds dedicated to
military reform and the modernization of Ukrainian army,
Itar-Tass quoted a diplomatic source as saying.

“This decision was approved at the meeting of the
NATO-Ukraine Commission, contributions to the funds have already
been confirmed by more than 10 countries," the source said.

The money will go towards things such as logistics, command and
control, cyber defense, medicine and rehabilitation for the
army’s wounded.

Meanwhile, on the sidelines of the NATO summit, US Defense
Secretary Chuck Hagel promised further support for Ukraine’s
military action during a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart,
Valeriy Galetey.

“Hagel today praised the actions of the Ukrainian armed
forces in their current engagements in eastern Ukraine and
pledged continued US support for their efforts,” Pentagon
Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said in a statement.

In return, Galetey thanked the US for its non-lethal aid, worth
millions of dollars.